Collaborative learning encourages students to be active. They work in group doing the tasks or discussing the problems to find the solution. They are
encouraged to share their ideas with others. These activities can enhance their understanding about the materials and these can also develop their critical
thinking. Kristin Gerdy of Brigham Young University states, “Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like
good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Sharing one’s ideas and responding to others’ improves thinking and deepens
understanding.”
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Second, the materials that the students have learnt can retain longer in their memory. In collaborative learning, students are encouraged to
understand the materials through active involvement, they do not memorize them. Barbara G. Davis wrote, “Students learn best when they are actively involved in
the process, … Students working in small group tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other
instructional format.”
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Besides, some research has been found that the students who work in group can gain better achievements. The investigation conducted by
Stevens, Madden, Slavin, and Farnish found that students working in cooperative groups had better performance on standardized measures of reading
comprehension, reading vocabulary, language mechanics, language expression and spelling than those receiving traditional instruction.
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B. Scope and Formulation of the Study
2
Nico Wiersema. How does Collaborative Learning Actually Work in a Classroom and How do Students React to It
. 2000. April 9, 2008 http:www.londonmet.ac.ukdeliberationcollab.learningwiersema.html
3
Barbara Gross Davis. Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams. April 11, 2002. April 9, 2008. http:teaching.barkeley.edu.bdgcollaborative.html
4
David Nunan, Collaborative Language Learning and Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1992, p.3
The main point of reading is understanding the text. Many learners think that they can not understand the text because of the lack of vocabulary. Moreover,
some English teachers think the same. They believe that to improve the learners reading is by improving their vocabulary. However, that is not necessary. To
understand the text we do not need to understand every single word. Therefore, the way to improve learners reading skill is not through the emphasizing of
improving vocabulary. Practicing reading is a better way to improve learners reading. Jim Scrivener states, “… word by word approach is not the way that we
most often do in our reading life. In order to make students better readers, we need first of all to raise their awareness that it’s not always essential to understand
every word, and that practicing some different reading technique may be very useful to them.”
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The other problem is that the teachers often use traditional approach, as the writer explained previously, to teach reading and other English skill. The
learning process is still teachers-centered. Learners are seen as a passive object receiving new information from the teacher. For example, the teacher just gives
the meaning of some vocabulary that the students do not know. He or she does not encourage them to consult their dictionary. On the contrary, learning is an active
process. To learn new information or skills, students have to work actively with the materials. In conclusion, the teacher should use an approach which can
involve students actively in the learning process and can encourage students to be active in the classroom.
Based on those backgrounds, the writer tries to find out “can collaborative learning improve learners reading skill?”, so it can be an appropriate
approach to teach reading. The writer will focus on reading comprehension in this research. Therefore, the texts and exercises in this research are about reading
comprehension.
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Jim Scrivener, Learning Teaching: A Guide Book for English Language Teachers, Macmillan, Second Edition, p.185
Finally, the writer comes to the research question as follow: • Can collaborative learning improve students’ reading skill effectively?
C. Research Methodology
